


Upside Down

by EgoDominusTuus



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Lupercalia, Pre-War, Psychic Wolves, River has a wolf, River has two wolves, wolf bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:00:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EgoDominusTuus/pseuds/EgoDominusTuus
Summary: River has a wolf -- and then River has a pack. But what happens when she meets Arthur Maxson?
Relationships: Arthur Maxson/Female Sole Survivor, Paladin Danse/Female Sole Survivor
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: Psychic Wolves for Lupercalia





	Upside Down

I didn't know what they expected from me -- the army made sure that every person who enlisted had a brother or sister if they hadn't come with one. It wasn't as though they could demand that people didn't find their bond beforehand, but there was something to be said for those who could be assigned the specially bred wolves that the recruits had to choose from. Had we not been at war, I knew that they might have been pickier about their soldiers; but with the threat of Nuclear War hanging above our heads, every able body was acceptable, bonded or not.

I wasn't angry about their selection of pups -- they were all beautiful and sleek and lovely... and I wasn't sure what I expected when I followed orders to report to the pup pen. There was a part of my mind that said I was probably going to be straddled with a female, just so I would have to deal with men sniffing around.

So when the dark pup whose underside was dusted white came up and pressed his head to my leg, I felt something inside of me warm.

Doyle was sweet like that, and he smelled like cedar smoke, like he'd been playing by a fire and it had somehow permanently caught in his coat. I picked him up and instantly cuddled him against me -- he was already a complete armful, heavy enough that I could feel him weighing on me... and so quiet when he whimpered and nuzzled against me; I knew he was made for me. A sniper couldn't have a loud wolf, after all.

There was nothing about him that wasn't perfect in my eyes, and I felt my heart instantly swelling with love and affection when I saw him. Everyone else took their time picking out their wolves. Some were more stubborn than others -- Doyle and I sat under the shade of a tree and watched the process, though it took hours, and it was... perfect. We were in sync with one another. Even though he had such a small mind, even though he was so young, I could sense how much he was already thinking, how clearly he was already thinking.

I knew he was perfect for me.

We trained together after that; we took our pups with us wherever we went, because we were a unit. Half of our training was making sure that we raised them correctly, that we taught them to be a partner to us in every way necessary.

And Doyle always stood slightly downwind from me, made sure that there was no scent of another sniper, of someone coming to spoil my shot. 

We quickly gained damn near infamy for how good we were together... and I was only a little shocked to learn that Braydon's wolf was Doyle's father. 

He was just as big and imposing, just as silent. Braydon called him Shade. 

I was completely taken with him -- his serious face and his charming eyes... and for a while, things were good. Braydon and I were perfectly in sync, and the relation between the wolves only made the bond that made us  _ pack _ all the stronger.

So it only made sense when Braydon died that Shade came with me to stay at the King residence... it only made sense that somehow, in the craze of it all, he became  _ mine _ . 

And when I panicked, told Artem that I would desert if they tried to take him away from me, he soothed me, told me I didn't have to worry about it.

That he would take care of it.

That he would make sure that I could keep them both.

And I knew he would, because Artem had done everything that he could to make me happy from the beginning. I wasn't sure what I'd done to deserve him, but when he came to me a few hours later and told me that the papers that I needed would be mailed by the end of the day, I felt relief flood through my chest and tears prickle my eyes. They were hot and stung, but my arms wrapped around the older wolf and I hugged him to me.

I couldn't hear him the way that I could Doyle, but it didn't matter. I could see it in his eyes. He was happy to stay with me, too. We were the only connection that we had to the person who had been so important to us... we were the only way that we could have a piece of Braydon’s memory.

It was one of the only comforts that I had when all was said and done, and there were no words that I could say that could let Artem know what it meant to me.

There were no words to tell him how much everything that he was doing meant to me. 

The best that I could do was try to get better, because that was what he wanted from me. Even though I wasn't sure how I was going to get through it -- even though I didn't know if the hole in my chest would ever be filled.

I did my best to get better, and when I left the King residence and found myself reinstated, I was proud of the fact that I was at least good enough that I wasn't a bird with a broken wing anymore.

\---

And then the war continued on. Everyone that I cared about seemed to be discharged, other than one Pistol Quinn, who seemed incapable of (or maybe too stubborn to accept) being hurt enough to be dismissed. But everyone was released from their duties when the bombs dropped... because the world changed.

My baby was gone -- my sweet boy, Braydon’s blood.

I was left only with my wolves and another hole in my heart. 

I had Silas King's jacket.

I had the knife that Artem gave me.

I had the memory of Nora's strength and Quinn's charming green eyes...

And I had Shade and Doyle. 

And then I had Paladin Danse. His wolf was a sweet sister who stared at my two boys with careful eyes... and I'd thought for a time that maybe, just maybe, I could find some semblance of a home again. I was ready when he took me up to the Prydwen; I was an army girl, and I knew I could fall into enough line to commit to this, to the Brotherhood of Steel. 

And then I heard  _ his _ voice.

I saw  _ his  _ face.

And Shade, who should not have been able to, snapped into place... and I knew that he'd bonded with the man in front of me.

The ghost of Braydon -- my lover, the father of my child.

Except he wasn't Braydon.

He was a man named Arthur Maxson... and my world was once again turned upside down. 


End file.
